Ibn Khuzaymah also narrated in his Sahīh (1), through Musʿab ibn Saʿd, from his father, who said: “We used to place our hands before our knees, but we were commanded to place our knees before our hands.” Accordingly, if the hadith of Abū Hurayrah has been accurately preserved, then it is abrogated. This is the approach taken by the author of al-Mughnī (2) and others. However, the hadith has two defects:

First, it is narrated through Yahyā ibn Salamah ibn Kuhayl, whose reports cannot be relied upon as evidence. Al-Nasāʾī said: “He (3) is an abandoned narrator.” Ibn Hibbān said: “His hadiths are exceedingly unsound; he cannot be relied upon.” Ibn Maʿīn said: “He is of no standing as a narrator (4).”

Second, what has been accurately preserved in Musʿab ibn Saʿd’s narration from his father concerning (5) this matter is only the account of placing the joined hands between the thighs while bowing, and the statement of Saʿd (6): “We used to do this, but we were commanded to place our hands on our knees.”

As for the statement of the author of al-Mughnī: “It was narrated from Abū Saʿīd that he said: ‘We used to place our hands